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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE W. LA BAW, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND CHAS. A'.

DURGIN.

ARRANGEMENT OF MEANS FOR REEFING AND FURLING SAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,219, dated September 1.5, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LA BAW, of Jersey City, Hudson county, State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Arrangement of Means for Reefing and Furling Sails of Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, figures, and letters of reference thereon, in which- Figure l, denotes a front elevation of my improvement with the sails set, Fig. 2, shows the vertical rollers and the shaft operating the same, Fig. 3, is a vertical section showing the` mast, spars, and parts of the operative mechanism for working the sails.

Similar letters of reference indicate like partsin' all the drawings.

The nature of my invention consists in placing vertical rollers in front,or rear of the mast, which are operated by a suitable mechanism from the deck of the vessel, whereby the process of taking in and drawing out sails is rendered automatic.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same.

A, is the mast.

B, B, B, B, are t-he spars.

C, C, C, are the sails which are shown as set to propel the vessel.

D, is the vertical shaft passing through vertical rollers of which there is one for each sail. This shaft is allowed to turn freely in the vertical rollers E, E, E, around which the sails are wound, and have their journals in the stays, platform or braces K, as they may be called.

F, L, M, L, are parts of the framework placed in front of the mast, and which secure parts of the machinery for working the sails.

G, is a shaft having journals in the framework L, L, upon which are the drums or coilers H, H, H, around which the ropes coil for drawing out the sails. The shaft G, is worked by means of a crank or wheel as shown in Fig. 1. The drums or coilers which rotate freely upon the shaft G, have clutch pins (a) inserted in the sides of the ratchet wheel which is secured to the coiler, and by means of the shippers c, c, c, having fulcrums at e, between the forks of which are inserted the ratchet wheels forming part of the coilers, they may be worked back and forth upon the shaft G, and made to catch against the pins (5,) in the shaft G, and held in a fixed place when necessary by the ratchet finger (f) as seen in Fig. 3.

Upon the shaft G, there is secured a" gear wheel I, which operates a pinion N having its bearing in the top frame piece hf and through which the vertical shaft D, passes. On this shaft D there is a key or spline, which fits a corresponding key seat or groove in the pinion'N, whereby the vertical shaft may be raised or lowered without detaching from the pinion. This shaft D, has clutch pins inserted therein which pins fit correspondingcavities or grooves in the vertical rollers, through which the shaft passes.l Upon the shaft D, there is secured a collar which is straddled by the forks of a lever J, whichhas a fulcrum on the mast at a suitable point. By'raising the shaft D, a short distance which may be done by the lever J, the key (IC/)will enter the cavity or groove on the top or upper roller; which as the shaft D rotates, carries the vertical roller around with it, and winds up the sail. By raising the shaft D, a short distance higher the key (g) to the middle roller enters the groove or cavity whereby this roller will be operated as the shaft D is made to operate, and by elevating the shaft still higher, the lower roller is made to operate by the same mechanism. I would here remark that the grooves in the upper and middle vertical rollers are made long enough to admit the elevation of the shaft D sufficiently high to couple all the rollers with the shaft without raising or interfering with the rollers. These rollers are provided with heads sufciently large to contain the sails and prevent them from sagging down.

The spars may be attached to the mast in the ordinary manner upon swivels so as to allow them to be turned around and dropped down as is often necessary to economize space when in port. The sails are secured in the middle to the vertical roller, so that as the roller rotates both sides will be wound or unwound alike, one part front; and the other back of the roller. To the edges of the sails are attached cords or some strong substance to which the ropes, which draw out the sails are secured. rlfhese ropes pass through pulleys or blocks in the spars, thence through eyes (7c) on the spars and mast at (j) and then through eyes or holes in the frame piece M to the coilers H. The ropes which operate the upper sail pass through the spar, and eyes, as indicated by the blue lines, and then carried to the coiler H, where they are wound up or let out; but previous to spreading or drawing out the sail, the pin (g) on the rod D, must be withdrawn from t-he roller (to allow it to turn freely) by dropping the shaft down by the lever J, and collar (i). This lever J, is held in place by pins or other means, in order to keep the shaft D, in connection with such of the rollers as may be desired. The ropes which operate the middle and lower sails are arranged the same as the upper sail by being passed through the ends of the spars and thence carried along to the coilers as shown by the blue lines in Figs. l and 3.

The middle and lower sails are drawn out by the coilers nearest the ends of the frame, while the upper sail is drawn out by the center coiler. The sails are taken in by winding them around the rollers, which is done by throwing the shaft D, into connection with the top sails, when it may be wound up by throwing that coiler out of connection with the clutch on the shaft G which draws this sail out, and by elevating the shaft D high enough to connect with the vertical roller for the middle sail this may be wound up by disconnecting that coiler operating this sail, while the lower sail is wound up by disconnecting the coiler which is used to wind it up, and elevating the shaft D, high enough to connect the pin (g) in the groove or cavity in the lower vertical roller.

Should it be found necessary in case of squalls or other causes, all the sails may be taken in at once by raising the shaft D, high enough to connect with all the rollers, and disconnecting all the coilers from the clutches on the shaft G.

I would remark that when the sails are set or drawn out, to propel the ship they may be held taut and secure by the ratchet lingers catching into the periphery of the coiler heads as shown in Fig. 8.

Having described my improvement in reeting the sails of vessels I will state what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

I do not limit myself to any particular mechanism for operating the vertical rollers around which the sails wind, as such mechanism may be varied.

I claimk The arrangement of vertical rollers in front or rear of the mast, and operated by mechanism from the deck of the vessel; whereby I am enabled to operate separately, or together, the sails on each mast, from the deck substantially as described and set forth, and irrespective of the mechanism employed for Working the vertical rollers.

eEoReE w. LA BAW. [a A] Witnesses T. S. BOYD, WM. VAN BEUREN. 

